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The highly-rated Ken Tse will relocate home to Melbourne |
SINGAPORE. After more than two decades in Singapore, Nuance-Watson (Singapore) Managing Director Ken Tse has left the company and is relocating home to Melbourne to spend more time with his family. He will re-join his children, who returned to Australia two years ago to attend High School.
Tse’s departure is a big loss to the industry. Highly rated both by beauty brands and Changi Airport Group, Tse has been with Nuance for 13 years. Prior to that he worked for Tangs department store, and also spent six years with DFS Singapore.
Tse played an instrumental role in driving the success of Nuance-Watson’s beauty business, joining three weeks before the beginning of the company’s inaugural beauty concession at Changi Terminal 2, in 2001. Despite the knock-on commercial effects of the 11 September terrorist attacks just days after the contract began, in two years Tse and his team managed to grow the business from around S$65 million (US$48 million) to S$420 million (US$310.7 million) in 2013.
As reported, last year Korean operator Shilla Travel Retail (The Shilla Duty Free) wrested the fragrances & cosmetics contract at Changi from long-time incumbent Nuance-Watson (Singapore), and began trading at the location last October. Tse was asked to stay on until the end of January to help facilitate a smooth changeover, and to help integrate the company’s remaining business into Dufry, which concluded its acquisition of The Nuance Group in September 2014.
“I was fortunate to work with Ken throughout his tenure in charge of the Nuance Watson perfumes & cosmetics concession in Changi Airport,” noted Jonathan Holland & Associates Managing Director Jonathan Holland. “Significant positive changes to the duty free shops were made during his management due to his open attitude to innovation in new products, new concepts and marketing ideas.
“The brands that my company introduced to the group during this time are now flourishing in these shops and have set the benchmark for the region. Ken is warm, sincere, forthright and it was a real pleasure to deal with him. I will miss his candour and his ever-sunny disposition.”
